Friday, February 15, 2013

Ten top Romeo and Juliet stories

Na'ima B. Robert's novels for young adults include From Somalia with Love, Boy vs Girl, Far From Home, and Black Sheep.

One of her favorite tales of star-crossed lovers and unrequited love, as told to the Guardian:

1984 by George Orwell

An unexpected choice, I know, inspired, no doubt, by the brilliant George Orwell season on BBC Radio 4. Orwell's prescient tale of a totalitarian dystopia may seem to have little in common with Shakespeare's famous love story but, for me, the central love story is the same. For a start, Winston Smith and Julia are Party members. As such, their liaison is strictly forbidden and they risk death with every stolen moment. And then there is their terrible, tragic end. Not being "erased", as they once feared; indeed, they suffer a fate far worse: they end up betraying each other in order to save themselves. Aged, weary and cowed at last, the two lovers who believed that they could change the world end up with nothing but bitter feelings for each other. The only consolation is that, finally, Winston finally gives in to what the state requires of him: he loves Big Brother, possibly the most tragic ending the story could have had.